The Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka (MCCI) urged the government on Wednesday to extend validity of several licences related to trade and environment by three to five years in order to improve the ease- of-doing-business context in the country.
The trade-body also proposed outsourcing of services of the regulatory body inspectors to ensure overall quality and prompt inspection activities.
They came up with the call at a seminar, organised by the MCCI at its Gulshan office in the city, to aware the business community of the One Stop Service (OSS) - provided by the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), a statement said.
BIDA Executive Chairman Sirazul Islam led the discussion from its side, while MCCI President Md Saiful Islam, Senior Vice-President Kamran T Rahman, directors Syed Tareque Md Ali, Uzma Chowdhury, Rubaiyat Jamil and Golam Mainuddin, and Secretary General and CEO Farooq Ahmed attended the seminar, among others.
In his speech, the BIDA executive chairman emphasised adopting digital services for making the business and investment processes easier and faster in Bangladesh.
He, however, mentioned that the services availed from the OSS were mostly related to the BIDA and not of other agencies.
He also encouraged the private sector entities to use all the services offered by the OSS for their full convenience.
BIDA Director Jibon Krishna Saha Roy made a presentation and highlighted how the businesses could take advantage of the OSS platform.
The BIDA OSS allows different business-related services, including online payments, to be done remotely. Currently, the OSS offers 58 services of 19 organisations virtually.
In his speech, the MCCI president appreciated the BIDA's initiatives to bring everything (related with business) under one umbrella.
He hoped that the BIDA activities would get desired momentum and earn confidence of the local and foreign investors.
Mr Islam also highlighted the need for having three to five-year validity for various trade and environment-related licences to enhance the ease of doing business here.
"In the current context, we only have one-year licences. It hampers the ease of doing business."
He proposed outsourcing of services of the regulatory body inspectors to ensure overall quality and speed of inspection activities.
The statement also said the BIDA introduced the OSS in 2018 to provide essential services in connection with investment facilitation. The OSS focuses on providing several regulatory, compliance, and value-added services through a single window. It would ultimately become the point of contact between the government and investors for availing various investment-related services.
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